Map those thoughts

It's the age of the survival of the fittest and the only way to be the fittest is to be able to enhance your effectiveness and performance in every sphere of life. Mind Mapping is a tool that has been developed to enable a person to clearly organise his thoughts and ideas and create visual maps in his mind so that he can find solutions to problems.

It is a creative way of recording ideas that was popularised by the author and psychologist Tony Buzan. Tony Buzan in his book ‘Use your head’ has pointed out that the normal linear methods of taking notes and recording ideas do not make efficient use of the brain’s powers. He has authored and co-authored over 120 books on learning, the brain, memory, creativity and intelligence.

Mind mapping as a tool

A Mind Map is a powerful brain technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills — word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness — on a single page through a uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives the Mind Mapper the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of his brain. It is a method of recording information or ideas in a dynamic way that mirrors the brain’s processes.

The Mind Map allows one to improve and accelerate learning and thinking skills. Human brains are divided into the left and right cortex. The left side is dedicated to tasks involving order, logic, words, lists, numbers and analysis, the right side deals with rhythm, colour, imagination and daydreaming. The only way to improve the memory, learning and thinking skills of a person is to use his whole brain by fusing the specific dedications of both cortexes.

The rationale for the use of Mind Maps comes from a deeper understanding of how the brain works with information. Unlike a computer, the brain does not process or organise information in linear sequences. Instead it naturally operates with networks of associations between various ideas and gets jumbled up at different places in the brain. If information is presented as a visual network, rather than a linear list, the mind power would be enhanced greatly to digest that information and organise it for better recall. This happens through the stimulation of synergy of the left and right brain.

According to Margulies (1991), before we learn a language as children, we visualise pictures in our mind which are linked to concepts. Unfortunately, creative channels are often blocked when children are trained to write only in words in one colour on lined paper. 

A Mind Map allows the user to record a great deal of information on one page to show relationships among various concepts and ideas. Visual presentation of ideas helps to think about a subject in a global, holistic sense and increases mental flexibility by providing the big picture to the mind mapper. On a Mind Map structures of the subject can be seen in a way that is not normally possible with linear outlines.

Consider the situation when you are preparing to answer a comprehension or an essay. How difficult was it to get started by grouping your thoughts? How exactly did the thinking process streamline? When creating an outline, the writer has to wait until the first idea flashes, mark Roman numeral one; then wait until another idea comes that gels in exact order and is a subset or sub-branch of the first one. Obviously, our brains do not work that way; we have numerous thoughts, images, mental pictures, and impressions that occur simultaneously. This could be addressed by creating a Mind Map of the comprehension or essay to be written through the ideas 'as-is-in' the brain and sequencing it later. Mind Mapping is a powerful technique for thinking on paper. It can help to a great extent in such tasks as:

*Goal setting (goal Mind Mapping)
*Organising information for decision making
*Studying new topics under any subject
*Preparing for an exam
*Project planning
*Preparing an oral presentation or writing an article or report
*Note taking
*Brainstorming
*Problem solving

And many other “think on paper” types of situations.

Mind mapping engages the often inactive right hemisphere of the brain by emphasising spatial and visual language; it focuses on spurring creative as well as logical thought patterns. Whole brain thinking has become more desirable in today's study environment as students face intense competitive pressures. Survival and growth in the education sector demand a continuous stream of new and different ideas and improved processes for creating and delivering distinctive results. Integrative and creative thinking requires the process of left- and right-brain thinking to produce such synergistic outcomes.

Mind Maps can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human brain potential. The Mind Map has four essential characteristics:

*The subject of attention is crystallised in a central image.
*The main themes of the subject radiate from the central image as branches.
*Branches comprise a key image or key word printed on an associated line. Topics of lesser importance are also represented as branches attached to higher level branches.
*The branches form a connected nodal structure.

In the Indian context, thinking shows a decided bias towards the use of linear thought patterns when processing information, perhaps due to a high regard for Newtonian perceptions of the universe. Whatever the reason, formal learning activities in primary, secondary and post-secondary and even higher education traditionally stresses linear thinking by emphasising logic, sequence, and quantification.